FBI Looks Deeper Into Murdoch’s Empire

There appears to be more than one rat running around inside Newscorp. I will get interested when they get into Faux News, and some of Murdoch’s American holdings…

FBI widens its US inquiry into News Corp beyond 9/11 hacking

The American authorities have widened their investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to look into allegations of wrongdoing at the company beyond the claim that News of the World journalists attempted to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.

It was reported this weekend that FBI investigators, who are checking damaging claims that reporters at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid asked a New York-based private detective to access the voicemails of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, have so far found no evidence that attempts were made to eavesdrop on the messages.

The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp, said US agencies were now examining whether there were further claims of misconduct at the company’s American subsidiaries that merit further investigation. The move comes as MPs in Westminster prepare to consider tomorrow the release of new documents related to hacking, which one former minister described as “dynamite”

The American authorities have widened their investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to look into allegations of wrongdoing at the company beyond the claim that News of the World journalists attempted to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.

It was reported this weekend that FBI investigators, who are checking damaging claims that reporters at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid asked a New York-based private detective to access the voicemails of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, have so far found no evidence that attempts were made to eavesdrop on the messages.

The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp, said US agencies were now examining whether there were further claims of misconduct at the company’s American subsidiaries that merit further investigation. The move comes as MPs in Westminster prepare to consider tomorrow the release of new documents related to hacking, which one former minister described as “dynamite”.

The widened US inquiry, said to be at “an early stage”, will look at past claims against News Corp companies, including a lawsuit brought by Floorgraphics, an advertising company, which alleged computer hacking on the part of its Murdoch-owned competitor.

A New Jersey senator wrote to the US Attorney General’s office last month asking for an inquiry into News Corp’s behaviour in the US, citing the case of Floorgraphics, whose founders claimed their Murdoch-owned rival, News America, threatened to destroy their company when they rejected a takeover bid. A jury was told that 11 breaches of Floorgraphics’ password-protected website in 2004 were traced back to an address registered to a News America office and that sensitive information could have been accessed.

News Corp, which ended the lawsuit after agreeing to buy Floorgraphics for $29.5m (£18m), denied any claim that it threatened the company and said it condemned the hacking, suggesting it may have been carried out without its knowledge by an employee. News Corp is now facing questions about its US operations, including whether American corruption laws were broken if it is proven that NOTW journalists made payments to British police officers.

The developments came ahead of a potentially difficult week for Mr Murdoch’s son, James, as the Commons’ media select committee meets tomorrow to discuss further submissions arising from his testimony last month.

Murdoch Papers Hacking Scandal Spreads to US – 9/11 Victims

Looks like the phone hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s “News of the World” tabloid published in the UK is about to go international. Murdoch, the worlds largest media mogul and owner of hundreds of newspapers and other media properties around the world including Faux News is trying to limit damage through a legal ploy by shutting down”News of the World” and seeking protection under British liquidation laws which seal the company’s property from law enforcement review.

The question now is how far illegal phone hacking and tapping extends into the Murdoch media empire, and whether this sort of seedy activity was directed from the top, or acknowledged with a wink-wink.

Another Seedy Murdoch Property

 

Is Faux News, the tabloid news broadcaster and right wing propaganda outlet in the US next?

Phone Hacking Scandal Widens: News International Targeted Gordon Brown, BSkyB Bid Delayed

The phone hacking scandal widened on Monday, as new reports emerged that papers beyond the News of the World were also involved in criminal behavior. In addition, Rupert Murdoch’s bid to take over BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, looked to be in serious peril.

Multiple outlets reported that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to claim that several News International papers illegally obtained his personal details.

According to The Guardian, The Independent and the BBC, investigators working for the News of the World, The Sun and The Sunday Times obtained information about Brown’s family, his legal and his medical records. This marks the first time that any allegations about News International have targeted papers outside the News of the World…

In addition, new revelations about the criminal behavior inside the News of the World continued to be unearthed. Among the latest details:

–The BBC reported that emails written in 2007 show that the News Of The World was paying police guarding the royal family for information–but that nobody was alerted about this evidence of corruption. BBC reporter Robert Peston uncovered emails from then-royal reporter Clive Goodman (who was the first person to be jailed over phone hacking) to then-editor Andy Coulson (who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron’s top communications aide) asking for money to pay police officers for huge amounts of personal information about the royal family.

–The Guardian reported Monday morning that Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were recently warned by the police that their phones may have been hacked.

–The Daily Mirror also floated allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. A source told the Mirror that a then-New York City police officer (now a private investigator) was approached and offered money if he would hack into the victims’ voicemail. The officer reportedly declined the offer.

Starting Fresh – When the HR Rep Doesn’t Call

One of things you never will hear crossing a politicians lips when talking about unemployment – is the fact that the 10% unemployment numbers include 5 – 7  million of the unemployed are folks who have college degrees, and would be classified as white collar workers. This situation started shortly after the Dot Com bust, where previously highly paid professional people with significant skill sets were thrown out of work, or forced into underemployment by cascading companies.

During the Bushit Administration, these jobs were heavily “outsourced” to China and India. Another “brilliant” idea when you consider those 160,000 programmers in China attempting to Hack into Google, our military systems, and cripple our grids conducting 3 – 5 million attacks a day…

Were trained largely on corporate America’s dime.

Finding a Job by Starting a Business

Last year, more laid-off managers and executives grew tired of waiting for human resources departments to call them back. They took matters into their own hands by starting companies.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm, regularly keeps track of 3,000 high-level job seekers in a range of industries. Last year, 8.6 percent of these decided to take the start-up route, compared with 5.1 percent in 2008.

The biggest surge was in the third quarter. The hope is that this momentum “will carry into 2010, since new business development is considered critical to a sustainable recovery,” Challenger stated.

After seven years, only about a third of start-ups are still in business, according to a study in the Monthly Labor Review. Most of these companies fail within in the first few years. So in four years or so, it would be interesting to see how many of these entrepreneurs wish they had waited for that H.R. person to call back.